CW: homophobia.

Chapter 22, part 1.

"You're dismissed," Carter said and then nodded to Alice. "Major, hang back, please."

Alice waited obediently, watching the rest of her team rise and leave the briefing room. They had just gone over the post-mission brief—it was a short one, as their offworld outing consisted of visiting Sapralis, a planet where a leather merchant named Que'n resided, to check if Rianna had left them a message; but since she hadn't, they merely did a quick tour of the selling booths and then returned home.

"How's Dalia today?" The general asked when they were alone.

Alice shrugged. "It's only been a day. I've gotten her a few books and she's been watching lots of TV. As a way to familiarize herself with our world, it might actually be better than reading, at least at the beginning. Doctor Green agreed to spend a few hours with her tomorrow, though I think, under these circumstances, I should stay and—"

But Carter was shaking her head. "Oh, no, no, no! You're taking the Thanksgiving weekend off, no arguing!" And she actually wagged her finger at Alice. "Don't think I don't know you've been working almost non-stop all this time. You need rest." She didn't add you look exhausted, but it was clear in her face, and Alice couldn't dispute that assessment. For the whole week after she'd come back from London, she'd been working from early morning until very late at night, determined not to let herself be swallowed up by the emotional repercussions of the trip and her disastrous meeting with Karim's father and wife. The previous day was the first time she tried to follow Green's instructions and actually went home at nine—and, without help from Benadryl or alcohol, proceeded to lay awake for the entire night, save an hour in the wee hours of the morning when she drifted off to fretful sleep. She was exhausted, but she'd promised Green that she'd try to follow her instructions, so there was nothing she could do prevent that at the moment. She couldn't even drink a cup of coffee since she was supposed to avoid caffeine in the afternoon.

"Yes, ma'am," Alice replied resignedly. "In that case, I'll get Rodriguez to check in on Dalia throughout the weekend."

"Good." Carter nodded, satisfied. "You're going home?"

"Yes, ma'am. My Uncle has invited us for a Thanksgiving dinner," she replied, restraining the urge to roll her eyes. Simon spent most of his time in Washington these days, and the fact that he was coming back and gathering up the family seemed ominous to her.

"That's nice. So you're going to see your brother—can you please try to convince him not to leave active duty?" She saw Alice's raised eyebrows and sighed. "Yeah, I've heard he's put in for a move to the Reserves. I have to admit it surprised me. His service record is impeccable, I know Sheppard really values him, it would be a real shame to lose him. Anything you can do to change his mind?"

Alice licked her lips nervously. "I don't know, ma'am, but I don't want to find out," she admitted. "I support his decision," she added, a little defensively, seeing a crease form between Carter's eyebrows.

"Really? That's surprising to me, too."

Alice sighed. "Jake's been in the Corps for fifteen years, ma'am, eight of them in the Program, and he's excellent at what he does, but he's feeling restless. Unless he becomes a mustang, he's never gonna be anything more than an infantryman—all frontline units in the Program are headed by an officer, so an NCO, no matter the rank, is never going to be a leader unto himself. Jake was headed to college before—well, before our father died, anyway, that was what changed everything. He wants to give it a try now. I cannot do anything but support that. Plus"—she hesitated—"well, the idea that he won't be in danger anymore is nice." She paused for a moment, looking away, and then added quietly: "I know how he died in the alternative timeline."

Carter didn't respond right away, and when she did, her voice was very gentle. "It must be a real burden to know everything you know."

Alice shrugged and didn't reply, her eyes cast down.

"I can understand and appreciate your position," the general continued after a moment. "I still think it's a huge loss to the Program, but what you say makes a lot of sense." She shook her head. "Does he have a plan for his new civilian life? Aside from going to college?"

Alice smiled crookedly, looking back up. "I think he's mostly looking forward to growing out his hair," she quipped.

Carter chuckled. "I bet. Well, if he's really made up his mind, then I don't think there's much we can do. We're certainly not gonna block his request."

Alice nodded. Jake was technically at the tail end of his last contract and under normal circumstances he would have already been moved to the IRR—Individual Ready Reserve, which would mean he'd be essentially a full-time civilian that could be recalled to duty if the need arose. Instead, he had remained on active duty and was only now transferring into SR—Selected Reserve, which would require him to join a Reserve unit with one weekend per month spent on obligatory drill and two weeks of extended training in the summer—and could be much more easily deployed. He'd done enough, and trying to keep him in the Program against his will would be a real asshole move—and in less than a year, he would be gone anyway when his contract expired.

"Okay, then. Moving on," Carter said after a moment of silence. "Have you seen the final report on X-801?"

Alice smiled tiredly. "Yes, ma'am. It performed quite well."

"Quite! The SG-5 was a bit more enthusiastic in their review." The general shook her head, amused with Alice's modesty. "It still needs to be okayed by the IOA and the budget-holders, but both O'Neill and I agree we'd like it to become part of SGC's standard gear. It'll take a while, of course—the bureaucrats will hem and haw over it for months, I would guess—but eventually we'll roll it out. It'll save a lot of lives. This was an excellent job, Major," she praised.

Alice nodded again, too exhausted to feel pleased. "Thank you, ma'am."

"I've shown it to Teal'c a few days ago when he came to discuss the latest round of tests of the new version of Tretonin," Carter added. "He remarked that the X-801 might contribute to an improvement of the SGC's—and, therefore, Earth's—reputation in the galaxy, too. Now that the Goa'uld are gone, the Zats are much more widely used than the Staff weapons, and, although they can still be pretty deadly, they're used much more judiciously. Now we have an equivalent that is almost as accurate as bullets but much less lethal."

"That was my principal reason for starting this project," Alice agreed. "Most of our adversaries in the Milky Way aren't evil, they're just—uh, misguided, like Wael's Jaffa. And as much as I want to stamp out Lucian Alliance as the only serious remaining threat, aside from Jareth and his Wraith—I don't think all people who work for them deserve to die just because they happen to stand in our way. It's not our job to police the galaxy."

Carter looked pensive. "That's an interesting turn of phrase," she noted. "I've been having a conversation on what exactly is our job nowadays with a few people, and that's an argument that's made its appearance more than once."

"You don't agree, ma'am?" Alice was surprised.

"I think it's much more complex than that. Whatever we might think, we have upset the balance of power in the galaxy. I'm not saying we were wrong, but I look at how the Jaffa Nation has dealt with the disappearance of their former gods, and how the humans are not dealing with it in any structured way and I have to question if we shouldn't shoulder a greater part of responsibility over them, just by the virtue of being more advanced. I mean, let's face it—the Ori have either completely destroyed or decimated every other advanced world out there, we're basically it. I'm not sure if we're not ignoring our obligation to help."

Alice shrugged. "I think we have enough problems on our own planet, ma'am. How can we justify spending time and resources on other worlds when there are countries where people starve and die of treatable diseases all the time? Or live in abject poverty, or are denied fundamental human and civil rights?"

Carter smiled a little crookedly. "You realize that's essentially the same argument conservatives make to oppose foreign aid? 'How can we spend funds on other countries when this and that percent of people live in poverty inside the US?'"

Alice frowned. She couldn't argue with the logic, and it distressed her enough that it broke through the wall of tired numbness: this was something one or both her uncles might say. The realization left her feeling distaste for herself.

Carter must have noticed her unease because she nodded with understanding. "Those are difficult topics, with multiple layers to consider. I invite you to think about it some more and come back to me when you reach some conclusions—of course by that I don't mean that you must agree with me," she rushed to add. "Quite the opposite. But I think the subject deserves further consideration."

"Yes, ma'am." Alice nodded, her brows still furrowed, and then shook her head; Carter was right, of course, but Alice was just too tired to think about it now.

The general smiled. "Good. Anything else?"

"Uh, yes, ma'am. I've got two phone calls earlier today that… well, I thought you should know." She hesitated, swallowed, and continued: "One was regarding Major Cho—or, I should say, former major."

"There was a verdict?" Carter's voice rang with curiosity.

"Yes, ma'am. One of the other women who accused him had contacted me before to tell me—well, to tell me that she had only decided to come forward because I had." Alice shrugged. "She called again this morning to tell me he'd been found guilty of rape, dismissed from service and sentenced to four years prison time. But she said there are two more cases that are awaiting verdict and sentencing so he might get more time."

"Four years." Carter shook her head with distaste.

Alice sighed. "Yes, ma'am." She decided to change the subject quickly to avoid any further discussion that would no doubt be uncomfortable. "The second call I got was from Professor Timothy Makrov from CalTech—do you know him?"

Carter frowned. "Wasn't he the one we've contracted to try and reconstruct the Chair?"

"Yes, that was him. He helped us install the new Chair we brought from M5S-559, but I actually know him from college—I was in his Computability Theory class. Because of his familiarity of the Program, he is cleared to read some of the research that comes out from Groom Lake, SGC and Atlantis as part of our internal peer review scheme."

"What did he want from you?"

"He asked me to do a guest lecture to his students." Alice restrained the urge to roll her eyes. "He's read some of my research on Nanite programming and wants me to come in as an expert in AI. I told him no, but—"

"Why?" Carter interrupted her.

"Ma'am?" Alice blinked. "I obviously I can't talk about anything we've learned as part of the Program, so—"

"That's not entirely true." Carter shook her head emphatically. "We do release some information gained via the Stargate from time to time—in small doses, of course, and it always has to be backed up by cleaned-up research, but it's not unheard-of. Plus, I'm still trying to convince the IOA to let us accelerate the rate at which we do this—part of my slow reveal plan, remember?"

"Yes, ma'am, but I didn't think you've gotten anywhere with them," Alice admitted.

"I haven't, but I'm not giving up. But, as I said, just because I haven't succeeded yet, it doesn't mean we don't release anything. It used to be me and Bill schlepping from conference to conference, showing off half-baked ideas and intentionally failing 'inventions'. But now that I'm a general, I can send someone else." She grinned happily, visibly pleased with this possibility. "Bill actually likes those events, so I'm not gonna take them away from him, but I was thinking it would be good to rotate you and Jennifer so that you both get some exposure in the community. A guest lecture at your alma mater is a great place to start."

Alice grimaced. "I would prefer if Hailey could do it on her own. I'm not the best public speaker."

Carter actually chuckled. "I think we've had enough examples lately to know that's not true. I know you don't like to be in the spotlight," she added more gently. "But you are good at it, and it would be criminal not to use you."

"Talking about the Program to a few people at a time is quite different from speaking to a whole auditorium," Alice disagreed.

"Perhaps," the general acknowledged lightly, as if it changed nothing; and, in the end, Alice didn't think it did. She could protest all she wanted, but if Carter made it an order, then she'd have to do it anyway. Carter's trust and belief in her was gratifying, but at this particular moment Alice would've preferred if her mentor didn't put so much stock in her abilities.

She sighed. "Should I call Professor Makrov back and tell him I'll do it?"

"Yes, please." The general smiled, satisfied. "This is great. There's a conference in a couple weeks that I've already asked Jennifer to attend, you can do the guest lecture at CalTech now and go to the next one, whenever that might be. Captain Scott has the schedule for the next few months, you can ask him and perhaps even decide with Jennifer which one of you will attend which event."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Don't look so sullen, Major. It's not that bad. There's always free food, sometimes interesting conversation—though admittedly not always—and some of those conferences are abroad, so there's an opportunity to travel. I understand that you haven't been out of the US much."

"Well, I did live in another galaxy for three years," Alice quipped tiredly and got a smile for her effort.

"Indeed." Carter stood up, prompting Alice to rise, too. "I'm very glad you've brought this subject up, Major. Please review your research paper in terms of how it could be cleaned and released to the public, and remember that the point is to actually tell them something new, not just remove everything Stargate-related."

"Yes, ma'am. I can get it for your review mid-next week?"

"There's no rush, take your time. Let's say beginning of December?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Alright." The general nodded. "Are you flying today or tomorrow?"

"Today, I'm taking the last flight out of Denver."

Carter looked at her watch. "Then you should take off now to beat the traffic."

"I still have time," Alice protested out of habit, though really, it would probably take her twice as long today to get to Denver as it would on a day that didn't lead to a major holiday.

"Better safe than sorry," Carter admonished with a sigh. "Happy Thanksgiving, Alice. Do rest up a little, will you?"

"Yes, ma'am, and a happy Thanksgiving to you, too."

Alice's stomach was upset from eating too much too quickly, so instead of feeling pleasantly full and drowsy, she was alert and uncomfortable. That's what you get for gorging yourself on food after eating too little and too irregularly for months, she castigated herself. Knowing it was her own fault did not help things, however.

They were sitting at Uncle Simon's long dining room table: Alice, Jake, their mom, Simon, Aunt Helen, Tobey, Jodie and her husband Tyler. The dinner has gone quite well, with no major drama and plenty of inane, but comfortable conversation.

Alice noted Jodie and Tyler exchange a look and then Jodie cleared her throat to grab everyone's attention.

"We have an announcement," she said, her voice trembling with excitement. "Tyler and I are expecting!"

An instant eruption of cheers and congratulations followed. Alice hugged her cousin and shook hands with Tyler (who looked kind of pale but proud), and then, as she sat back down, she caught Tobey's significant look and she hid a smirk. Aunt Helen beamed and Uncle Simon looked very satisfied.

"When's the due date?" Eileen asked as the excitement ebbed a little.

"Beginning of April," Jodie replied, flushed and visibly happy.

"I'm hoping it's a boy!" Simon proclaimed, as if he was the father.

"I'll be glad if it's healthy," Tyler said with a look at Jodie that made Alice uncomfortable enough to avert her eyes.

"How do you feel about becoming a grandfather, Simon?" Eileen ribbed him gently.

He laughed jovially. "Well, I don't feel old enough to call myself that, you can be sure of that! But I am very happy," he added, and his voice rang with indisputable honesty.

"Are you gonna continue working?" Jake asked Jodie.

She shook her head. "I'm gonna leave at the end of the month, already put in my notice."

"Good for you." He grinned at her. "Look, we're in sync. I've just done the same."

Alice smirked, seeing the frown of confusion on everyone's faces—except Eileen's.

"What do you mean?" Simon demanded, a little put off.

"Well, technically it's not the same thing." Jake shrugged. "But I've just sent a request for transfer into SR."

"I always thought you'd be a lifer!" Tobey interjected, his expression disbelieving.

"What's SR?" Tyler asked; everyone else was familiar with the military terms and it sometimes made him feel left out.

"Selected Reserve," his wife explained, looking a little annoyed that Jake had stolen her thunder. "It means he's moving from active duty to the Reserves."

"Well, you've done, what, fourteen years? It's more than the vast majority of enlisted men do," Simon said dismissively.

"Fifteen," Jake corrected calmly.

"You didn't want to serve out the remaining year in active duty? Moving to the SR is a bother, you've gotta get a place in a new unit, get acquainted with the drill structure and all… why now?"

"It's just a good time to do that now. My fire team is scattered, so I'd have to work out a dynamic with new people anyway," he explained. "And it just seemed like a good time."

"Nah, there's more." Simon's eyes were sharp. "It's not just that. Tell the truth. You've met someone, haven't you?"

Alice saw Jake's face set in a poker mask, but his voice remained calm enough. "Yes. It isn't serious yet, but it's hard to meet someone in Japan. Unless you're Zach," he added as an afterthought. His official cover story was that he was stationed at the Butler Marine Base in Okinawa.

"Sure, especially when you're not in Japan," Simon quipped, but his face was screwed up in a grimace. "So who is she? What's her name?"

Jake inhaled deeply and looked at Alice. She nodded encouragingly.

"His name is Oliver," Jake said. "I'm gay."

In the silence that followed it seemed that everyone stopped breathing altogether.

"What." Simon's voice was grave and it lacked intonation that would make it a question; his eyes were huge and his lips pursed tightly as he stared at his nephew.

"I'm gay," Jake repeated emphatically. Alice admired his outward calmness, even though she could clearly see the internal turmoil.

Simon's face turned red. "You sit here," he seethed. "You sit here, at our dinner table, eating our food, like one of us, but all this time…!" He stood up, his voice trembling with rage. "How can you choose to do such filth! How can you bring this into my home! How dare you tell us this now, of all days…! The Corps is lucky to be getting rid of a filthy faggot!"

Jake turned pale, but before he could say anything, Eileen jumped onto her feet, her eyes sparkling with fury. "You will not talk like that to my son!" She shouted, her hands balled to fists. "Take it back and apologize!"

"I will talk however I want in my own house!" He yelled back.

"Fine, then I'll remove myself from your house!" Jake rose. "You don't have to see this filthy faggot ever again!"

Alice was on her feet, too. "You know, I always thought you were decent enough to care about your family more than your shitty politics, but I guess I was wrong." Unlike everyone else's, her tone was ice-cold, and it seemed to make more of an impact than either Eileen's red-hot fury or Jake's hurt anger.

"Now wait a minute, young lady!" Simon responded hotly, but Alice was already leaving the room, following her mom and brother. "Come back here! That's an order!"

Alice felt her temper rise even higher, and she whipped around, her eyes shooting sparks of rage, but when she spoke, her voice was still frosty. "No, you don't get to pull that crap on me right now! You can go ahead and report me for disobeying an order, but I'm leaving!"

Before she moved to turn around and storm out, she saw Tobey stand up from the table, an expression of frightened determination on his face, and she stopped. Behind him, Aunt Helen was sitting in her seat, teary-eyed and anxious, with Jodie on her right, her hands covering her face in an gesture of shock; and only Tyler seemed relatively calm, his hand over his wife's shoulder, as he looked dispassionately at the unfolding family drama.

"I'm going, too," Tobey asserted, a bit throatily. "Call me when you stop being a homophobic bigot." And he strode off towards the hallway, passing Alice who still stood at the entrance.

"Tobias Boyd, you come back here right this minute!" Simon howled, his cheeks almost purple from indignation now.

"Congratulations, your house is all pure now," Alice sniped sarcastically, turned around and walked out into the hall. She picked up her jacket, threw it on and stalked out of the house, Simon still yelling something after her that she didn't understand.

Her little family was all outside, waiting by the car. Eileen was hugging her son very tightly.

"It's okay, mom," he was saying. "It's nothing I didn't expect."

"I'm so, so sorry, my darling," she replied tearfully. "It was so awful…"

"Yeah, man, sorry for that," Tobey interjected, shaking his head, visibly embarrassed. "My father is such an ass!"

"Nah, man, I appreciate your support." Jake gently disengaged from mom, and stepped closer to his cousin to shake hands with him. "You didn't have to do this. He's your father, after all."

"I wish he weren't!" Tobey responded fiercely. "I'm ashamed to be his son!"

"Nah, man, you were brilliant," Jake protested, putting his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "And you too, sis," he added, nodding to Alice. "Dicey. He's angry enough that he could get you both for disobeying orders."

"I doubt that." Alice waved her hand dismissively. "And even if he does…" She shrugged.

"I don't care," Tobey agreed, though he seemed anxious.

Alice clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Lieutenant. In this particular instance, if Simon does decide to be an even bigger jerk than he already is, I will gladly use my connections to get us both out of trouble."

Tobey grinned at her, seeming a little reassured.

"Let's get out of here," Eileen suggested. "Tobey, you'll of course stay with us for the weekend? You can fly back to Colorado together with Alice on Sunday."

The boy looked back at a house and hesitated. "I left my stuff in there…"

"I'll call Helen tomorrow, I'm sure she'll be happy to bring it to you. And in the meantime, we have spare toothbrushes and you can borrow Jake's pajamas."

Tobey nodded, seeming to make a decision. "Alright. Thank you, Auntie E."

"You know you're gonna drown in Jake's pajamas," Alice ribbed him gently as they got into the car.

"Nah, I can swim," he joked back, and they continued their light banter all the way home, though at the back of their heads, they were all still reeling from the dramatic ending to the night.

Alice was sitting on the couch, one eye on Ike playing with a bunch of wooden puzzles on the carpeted floor and the other on her Twitter feed on the phone she was holding in her hands. There were sounds of pots and pans coming from the kitchen where mom and Tobey were preparing dinner—Tobey having insisted on helping since he was using their hospitality. Jake and Aaron were out back, presumably discussing the disastrous Thanksgiving gathering.

Alice typed out an angry response to someone disparaging her recent contributions to the blog she'd inherited a few weeks earlier—In Layman's Terms—then took a deep breath, erased it all and re-phrased her reply before hitting Send. Ever since Marc had made the announcement that she'd be taking over—and he had mentioned her Twitter handle—she was getting quite a few challenging comments, comparing her articles to Marc's and usually finding them lacking, or arguing with her on the science she was presenting.

"Why the sour face?" Aaron asked, coming into the room, followed by Jake. Her brother took a seat in an armchair while Aaron sank onto the floor next to Ike, who immediately abandoned his puzzles and climbed into his father's lap.

"The Internet people are giving me a hard time," Alice answered, rolling her eyes. "I swear to you, I've only done four articles so far, but it's like everybody's decided I'm an ignorant who knows not what she talks about and they're out to prove me wrong." She had told them both about her new blogging endeavor earlier that day.

"Ah, mansplaining at its best," Aaron joked, and then added, seeing Alice's uncomprehending look: "It's men explaining stuff to women even though they were never asked for an opinion. Especially when the woman in question is an expert in the area they're discussing."

"Oh, there's even a word for it?" Alice shook her head, irked. "Yeah, I'm certainly getting mansplained to a lot lately. It's infuriating. I mean, I know I'm anonymous there, so they can't know my credentials, but all they have to do is to read the fucking blog post to get the answer to all these damn comments!"

"The Internet is not exactly a logical place, I'm afraid," Aaron remarked, a bit amused, letting Ike go back to his puzzles. "Or nice. You should see the amount of hate I get."

"Listening to you two, I'm happy I'm not on social media," Jake noted.

"And you're gonna be much saner for that," Aaron agreed with a smirk. "Still, there are good sides to it. A man has to have a way to feed his ego while he hasn't been on tour for nearly three years!"

They all chuckled, and then Alice's phone started buzzing in her hand. She looked at the caller ID.

"Major Boyd," she said to the receiver; she saw Aaron's eyes flash with curiosity.

"Good afternoon, Major, this is Lieutenant Rodriguez," a familiar voice responded. "You asked me to check in."

"Yes, thank you, Lieutenant. How is she doing?"

"Pretty good, though I think she's getting a little restless here inside the mountain, with not much to do besides reading and TV. I've taken her to the gym yesterday and she had a good laugh at the whole concept of a special place and equipment for exercising, but today she asked me if we can go work out for a while."

"That's good," Alice replied with the tiniest of sighs. "Let her sweat out the excess energy. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, you can take her out for a walk around the base's terrain."

"That's a good idea, thank you, ma'am."

"Thanks for doing this, Lieutenant. I know it's not exactly what you've signed up for, and I appreciate your help. I feel a little self-conscious lazying at home while you're there—"

"Please, Major, I'm happy to help anyway I can. You work more than anyone here, you deserve a few days off," he protested.

Alice grimaced. To have her superiors constantly be on her case about not resting enough was one thing, but her subordinate voicing the same concern was even more annoying.

"Either way, I feel bad that you didn't get to go home for Thanksgiving. I'll spare you for Christmas, I promise," she added.

"That's no problem, Major, really," he reassured her.

She sighed. "Alright. Thanks for checking in with me, Lieutenant. See you Monday."

"Yes, ma'am, have a good rest of the weekend."

She pressed the red receiver on the screen to end the call and then looked up. Jake had one eyebrow up, clearly interested; but no more than Aaron, whose eyes were huge and curious.

"Was that one of your people? Someone from your team?" He asked eagerly.

"Yep," she replied curtly.

"Did you get a dog?" Jake's eyebrow was still all the way up.

She smirked. "Close enough."

"Auntie has doggy?" Ike interrupted, delighted at the idea.

Alice sighed again. "No, Ikey, I'm afraid not." And then she addressed Jake: "I'll tell you later."

"Hey, I wanna know too!" Aaron protested, and his face was so crestfallen that it gave her pause.

"I can't tell you now," she replied with an apologetic little smile. "But it'll be declassified soon, I'll tell you then, I promise."

"I'll keep you to that." He grinned, mollified, but then he had to take care of Ike, who was starting to get fussy.

Alice didn't get a chance to talk to Jake alone until after dinner, when Aaron took Ike back to his parents', where they were staying over the Thanksgiving weekend. The siblings sneaked out onto the deck in the backyard, checking three times to see if they couldn't be overheard—they wouldn't suspect their mom of trying to spy on them, but Tobey's curiosity could be troublesome.

Alice recounted the story on how she met and rescued Dalia, and about her decision to take the girl in.

"Wait, does that mean you're gonna be her foster mom or something?" Jake shook his head, disbelief and concern clearly visible on his face.

Alice laughed a bit nervously. "God, no. I'm going to be appointed her legal guardian. It actually gives me more responsibility over her, but I'm not going to be subject to home visitation and don't need to get licensed or anything. But the Air Force is gonna help—financially, of course, but also with psychiatric care and stuff like that."

"I can't believe how calm you are about this. I mean, you're going to have to take care of a teenager—and not only that, but an alien!"

Alice sighed. "I know, it's weird. I'm trying to get worked out about it, and then I just—I don't. I guess it hasn't hit me yet—or maybe I'm just too damn tired. But I actually think that the fact she's an alien might make it a little easier," she added, shrugging.

"How come?"

"Well, she does believe she owes me this life debt, I am hoping it will help me temper her a little. Plus, at least until she goes to school, all she'll know about American teenagers will be from movies. She's annoying at times, but she is pretty mature for her age so I'm hoping to avoid too much drama."

He shook his head again. "I don't know, Allie. It still seems like an incredible burden to be taking on so lightly."

She nodded tiredly. "I know, but what's the alternative? The only avenue that doesn't end with her hitchhiking across America back to Colorado, or getting hunted and probably killed by the Alliance out there in the galaxy, is to drop her off on a planet without a Gate. And that would be all good, except it would mean I'd be dooming her to living the rest of her life convinced she'd lost her chance at ascension. And who knows—maybe she actually would. Who knows if there really isn't an Ancient who helps Rayah's people ascend?"

"I don't think an Ancient would deny her help just because she was physically stopped from fulfilling all this life debt thingy," he protested.

"Probably not," Alice agreed. "But ascension is all about your psyche, and being convinced that you've lost your chance because you didn't pay your debt might just be the kind of burden that's too hard to shed."

"So what you're saying is, you really don't have any choice?"

"Not an ethical one, at least," she confirmed. "I have too much on my conscience already, I don't want to add that one to it."

He frowned at that remark and it seemed for a moment that he would ask or comment on it, but then he changed his mind and nodded. "Well, if you're sure about it, I guess all that's left is to wish you good luck and assure you that if you ever need anything, I'm here to help."

She smiled wanly. "Thanks, Jake. I appreciate that."

He looked at her with concern. "You sure you're okay, sis? You look like you haven't slept in days."

She waved her hand dismissively. "I'll be alright."

He pursed his lips. "Maybe you should go to bed early today."

"Not that it'll help anything," she murmured, but he heard.

"You're still having trouble sleeping?"

"That is a bit of an understatement." She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in an unconscious gesture she'd picked up from General Carter. "My therapist's got me on this whole new routine that's supposed to help me fight the insomnia, but it's not working too well so far. I've only started it about a week ago, though," she admitted.

"Is that why you haven't been drinking much coffee these past few days?" His eyebrows went up. "You used to have cup after cup all day long."

"Yeah, in hindsight that might have contributed to the sleeping problems." She rolled her eyes at herself. "Anyway, I'm taking these pills she's prescribed me, but they're slow-acting, so I'm currently sleeping no more than a couple hours a night."

"That's insane. How did you sleep before she's put you on this new routine, though?"

"Not well," she admitted, and left it at that; she didn't particularly wanted to cop to using alcohol and Benadryl. "How about you? How are you feeling?" She didn't have to specify what she meant.

He shrugged. "Okay. It was nothing I hadn't expected, and to be quite honest, I don't give a single fuck what Simon thinks about me. I've got all the support I need." And he smiled at her warmly.

"Good." She hesitated. "You planning to come out to Alastar sometime soon, too? I'm only asking because you know Simon's gonna run to him to complain as soon as they're safely back in Washington, or maybe even before then."

He sighed deeply. "Yeah, I should. I can guess what he's gonna say, too, but I owe it to him to tell him myself. It wouldn't be good if he found out from Simon." He meditated for a moment. "Perhaps I could pay him a visit tomorrow morning."

"Want some backup?" She asked half-jokingly, but her eyes were earnest and she knew he understood it was a real offer.

"Yeah," he replied slowly. "Yeah, that would be nice. Thanks, sis."

"Always." She smiled, a little more genuinely than usually of late, and then stood up. "Not that I'll be sleeping anytime soon, but part of my new routine is supposed to be going to bed early to 'train myself' to sleep or something, so I think it's time for me."

He looked at his watch, but followed her back into the house. "At ten pm?"

"Yeah, my therapist told me to go to sleep no later than nine-thirty because I'm always up at five-thirty. But I'm cheating a little and I'm leaving work at nine-thirty so I'm in bed by ten-ish instead."

He looked amused. "Of course you do." And then he chuckled. "Getting up at the crack of dawn—there's something I won't be missing in civilian life!"

"Don't jinx it—you still don't know what you're gonna be doing. Maybe the private security business will require early morning shifts, too!"

"Oh, you're a spoilsport," he complained jokingly and then nodded towards Alice's bedroom door; they were already upstairs. "Alright, sis, goodnight. I hope you can sleep better tonight."

She nodded, said goodnight back and disappeared into her room, certain that she wouldn't.